During the thirteenth century, the city gained importance owing to its position on the Via Egnatia. When the Ottomans took the city in 1361, they changed its name to Gumulcine, and it's still known as this to its ethnic Turks. In 1912, at the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Komotini fell to the Bulgarians; it was liberated by Greek forces in the following year, only to be taken once more by the Bulgarians during World War I. It was finally and definitively joined to Greece on May 14, 1920.

The old bazaar , to the north of Platia Irinis, is a little bit of Istanbul, lodged between fine mosques and an elegant Ottoman-era clocktower . Alongside shady cafes tiny shops sell everything from dried apricots to iron buckets, and it's especially busy on Tuesdays when the villagers from the surrounding area come into town to sell their wares. Behind this old quarter, you can see the remains of Komotini's Byzantine walls , in one corner of which once stood a fine synagogue, demolished after its dome collapsed in the late 1980s.

Traditionally a city with both Greek and Turkish inhabitants, Komotini began to be dominated by Greek influence in the waning years of the Ottoman empire, when rich Greeks funded schools in the city to develop Greek culture and ideals. Some of these educational foundations still survive: one, a handsome half-timbered building at Ayiou Yeoryiou 13, has become the Museum of Folk Life and History (daily except Sun 10am-1pm; free), displaying examples of Thracian embroidery, traditional Thracian dress, silverware, copperware and a collection of religious seals, but avoiding any mention of the ethnic Turkish community. The Archeological Museum at Simeonidhi 4 (daily 9am-6pm; free) is also worth a visit, giving a lucid overview of Thracian history, by means of plans and finds from local sites, from its beginnings up to the Byzantine era.